Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. During operation, air is pressurized in the compressor section and is mixed with fuel and burned in the combustor section to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases are communicated through the turbine section, which extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to power the compressor section and other gas turbine engine loads.
A typical turbine section includes at least one array of stator vanes arranged circumferentially about an engine central longitudinal axis to define an outer radial flow path boundary for the hot combustion gases leaving the combustor section and entering the turbine section. Thus, the convex outer diameter of the vane is an area where the circumferential hotspot gas temperature is observed and is directly linked to thermal distress due to the hot combustion gases.